Sustainability overview

The stock status is unknown but there is currently no concern for the biomass of the stock, or the level of fishing mortality.

Nephrops fisheries are managed mainly using area restrictions, a total allowable catch, effort restrictions and technical measures. However, these areas are often too large to manage Nephrops effectively. This has historically resulted in fishing vessels concentrating their effort on favoured fishing grounds in a largely uncontrolled way, leading to overfishing and depletion of some Nephrops populations in the past, like in the Farn Deeps. Therefore, scientists advise that management should be implemented at the functional unit (FU) level.

Nephrops are caught predominantly by bottom trawling. Trawling for nephrops results is associated with large quantities of bycatch, including species such as cod and juvenile fish. The main bycatch in this area are skates and rays and monkfish, whiting, haddock and cod. Some of the skates and rays may be at risk and fishing pressure on haddock and whiting is too high. Cod populations are at very unhealthy levels.

You can increase the sustainability of the scampi you eat by choosing nephrops caught using creels. If sourcing trawl-caught nephrops, ask for those caught in nets with separator grids and larger meshes (80 mm is the mesh size in general use) which reduce the risk to bycatch species and discards.

Biology

Norway Lobster (also known as langoustine or scampi) live in burrows on the seabed. They are limited to a muddy habitat and require sediment with a silt and clay content to excavate burrows. Their distribution therefore is determined by the availability of suitable habitat. They occur over a wide area in the North East Atlantic, from Iceland to North Africa and into the Mediterranean, and constitute a valuable fishery for many countries. Males grow relatively quickly to around 6 cm, but seldom exceed 10 years old. Females grow more slowly and can reach 20 years old. Females mature at about 3 years. In the autumn they lay eggs which remain attached to the tail for 9 months (known as being “berried”). During this time the berried females rarely emerge from their burrows and therefore do not commonly appear in trawl catches, although they may be caught using baited creels. This habit of remaining in their burrows has probably afforded their populations some resilience to fishing pressure. Egg hatching occurs in the spring, and females emerge in spring/summer to moult and mate.

Stock information

Stock Area

Celtic Sea and West of Scotland

Stock information

SummaryThe stock status is unknown but there is currently no concern for the biomass of the stock, or the level of fishing mortality.

Justification UWTV surveys for functional unit 16 have been carried out since 2012; these provide abundance estimates which are estimated to have declined slightly in 2017, but is still above average. The harvest rate has increased but still remains below the FMSY. The species’ resilience is high.

Management

There is currently no management plan in this area. There are multiple management measures and a variety of enforcement is employed in the fishery. The main management measures include: effort management which is limited by kw-days (for otter trawlers), gear restrictions (such as mesh size limits), and catch composition restrictions. These measures are subject to change under the new Multi-Annual Plan due in mid-2018. There are multiple management measures and a variety of enforcement employed in the fishery. There is a separate catch limit for Functional Unit (FU) 16 within the wider TAC for Subarea 7, which has resulted in very restrictive quotas, increasing misreporting and the risk of discarding in the area.

The landings obligation forbids discards except in the North Sea, the West of Scotland and the Irish Sea where discarding is only permitted when Nephrops are below the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS), 25mm.

Specifically in the Moray Firth, since 2010 a number of vessels are reported to be using large square-meshed panels (of up to 160 mm). In 2012 most vessels operating in Division 4a and the Farn Deeps fish exclusively with specified highly selective gears (that have been shown to reduce cod catches by 60% by weight) or have installed 200 mm square mesh panels. At the end of 2012, a voluntary code of conduct for Nephrops trawlers (Moray Firth Prawn Agreement) was agreed amongst fishers for the Inner Moray Firth so as to protect the viability of smaller vessels based in the area. The agreement proposes that an area in the most westerly part of the Moray Firth be reserved for vessels under 300 HP, with a further small area reserved for vessels under 400 HP.<

Whilst management measures exist in the fishery, quota management may not be wholly effective: quota is not applied at the functional unit level and therefore, the stock is at risk of overfishing. Nephrops stock assessments are conducted by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Stock assessments are produced for 33 areas across the Northeast Atlantic, called functional units. However, management is applied to a separate 18 areas, called management units. These management units broadly overlap with the functional units, but not very effectively, previously resulting in overfishing. Scientists advice that TACs should be allocated at a functional unit level, so that they are appropriate for the Nephrops in each functional unit.

The quota used in this area in 2017 was below that recommended in scientific advice: ICES advised that catches in 2017 should be no more than 3100 tonnes, in that year ICES estimated total catches were 2154 tonnes. There is a high discard ratio of undersized Nephrops in this area.

MonitoringThe mean density of Nephrops is monitored through regular surveys conducted using underwater television (UWTV) per functional unit. These along with landings data, discards data and length-frequency data from at-sea and port monitoring, are used to conduct an annual stock assessment. The stock assessment is conducted at a functional unit level, providing the abundance and fishing mortality, relative to reference points. All landings of Nephrops that are over 12kg must be recorded in logbooks. Discards and catches of prohibited and undersized species must be recorded.

EnforcementSurveillance occurs through monitoring of logbooks and sales notes. All vessels over 10m must keep EU logbooks, but vessels under 10m, do not have to keep logbooks. There is mandatory Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) for vessels over 12m length, an electronic reporting system and a vessel detection system. Scotland’s surveillance and enforcement agencies include the Navy, Marine Scotland and the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency who use aerial, at-sea and dock patrols to monitor fishing activities, gear, catches, EU logbook and sales notes. There is observer coverage in the fishery.

There are multiple management measures and a variety of enforcement employed in the fishery, though the quota is not applied at the functional unit level and therefore, Nephrops stocks are at risk of overfishing.

Capture Information

Nephrops live in burrows in the seabed. Therefore, to capture Nephrops, fishing vessels use fishing gear near or on the seabed such as demersal trawls and creels. Nephrops are predominantly caught using demersal trawls.

Demersal otter trawls use small mesh-sized nets to catch Nephrops and therefore, it can be an unselective fishing gear, catching and discarding a relatively high amount of undersized Nephrops, various whitefish species and flatfish. A recent report by the Irish Sea Fisheries Board in this region showed that the main bycatch in this area are skates and rays and monkfish, whiting, haddock and cod.

There are few stock assessments on skates and rays in these areas but some can be endangered, threatened or protected species. The skate and ray species that do have assessments are data-limited species. Spotted rays populations have been increasing over time but have recently decreased; undulate ray populations are ‘depleted’; cuckoo ray populations are increasing; shagreen populations are unknown. In all the skate and ray fisheries, discarding is known to occur but cannot be quantified. Skate and rays are generally hardy and can survive when they are discarded, but their survival rates largely depend on how they were caught and handled. Mortality rates in otter trawls are shown to vary between 10-65%, depending on fishing and handling methods. Vessels which employ codes of conduct on skate and ray handling and/or reduce the risk of their capture, will improve their survival rates, though many of these methods arenat implemented over whole functional unit or regional levels.

There are two species of monkfish in the region (white and black-bellied monkfish), the stock status of each monkfish is generally positive. Haddock biomass has declined since 2011 but is still above the reference point but fishing mortality is too high. Whiting populations have declined since 2012 but still above the reference point. Fishing pressure on whiting is slightly too high. However, in this area, cod populations are at very unhealthy levels.

To further increase selectivity in the fishery, the Irish fishery have focused on increasing the codend mesh size, square mesh and other types of escape panels as well as the use of rigid sorting grids. The Irish fishery is currently conducting gear trials through a Fishery Improvement Project. Additionally, in Irish waters, the cod recovery plan (Articles 11 and 13 of Regulation (EC) 1342/2008) has imposed regulations and certain gear modifications are required when fishing for Nephrops (300mm SMP, SELTRA box codend or a rigid sorting grid with 35mm bar spacing). Ireland has increased the mesh size in Nephrops fisheries, from 70mm to 80mm since 1 January 2017 under law SI 510 of 2016.

HabitatThe Marine Institute’s 2017 survey of the Porcupine Bank sea pens and burrowing megafauna communities (which are listed under OSPAR list of threatened and/or declining species and habitats), are found in particular Porcupine Bank habitats and some of the species (particularly Funiculina quadrangularis) are vulnerable to trawl mortality. F. quadrangularis is largely absent from other Nephrops grounds around Ireland, yet are found where Nephrops are not commercially fished. Although the minimum size of the mesh in the nets may be small, some vessels have taken part in fishing gear trials where they use specially-designed nets to reduce their impact on bycatch and the seabed where they fish. Vessels which use these more selective nets can be rewarded by being given more quota. In the Irish Sea, these trails include the Irish Sea selectivity trials.

There are a number of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in this Functional Unit which are in need of protection from damaging activities. The nephrops fishery is known to overlap with parts of these MPAs, but it is not clear by how much. For these components, MCS considers bottom trawling in MPAs as a default red rating unless there is evidence (such as an environmental impact assessment (EIA)) indicating the activity does not damage the integrity of the site.

Alternatives

Based on method of production, fish type, and consumer rating:
only fish rated 2 and below are included as an alternative in
the list below. Click on a name to show the sustainable options
available.

Wild capture criterion scoring overview

This system has been developed by the Marine Conservation Society to help consumers choose the most environmentally sustainable fish. For
full details, please see the full wild-capture methodology available here.

Capture method and ecological effects

Score

Impact

0

Very low impact

0.25

Low impact

0.5

Some or moderate impact

0.75

High impact

1

Very high impact or illegal

Where environmental concerns from any one criteria are so great, a ‘critical fail’ may be triggered and the fishery awarded a default red
rating. For full details, please see the full wild-capture methodology available here.

ICES. 2016. Spotted ray (Raja montagui) in Subarea 6 and divisions 7.b and 7.j (West of Scotland, west and southwest of Ireland). Available at: http://ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Advice/2016/2016/rjm-67bj.pdf

ICES. 2018. Whiting (Merlangius merlangus) in divisions 7.b-c and 7.a-k (southern Celtic Seas and western English Channel). Published 29 June 2018. Available at: http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Advice/2018/2018/whg.27.7b-ce-k.pdf

What’s a sustainability range?

Many of the fish listed are caught in different ways and from
different areas of the sea. Some species are caught in a variety
of ways and this range shows that, within a species, some may be
fished sustainably whilst others unsustainably.

To find out the individual ratings for each fish click on the
ratings button next to the image.

Fish that are being assessed are shown with a question mark icon and "No Rating".

This system has been developed by the Marine Conservation
Society to help consumers choose the most environmentally
sustainable fish.

To be assessed

Seafood sources indicated as, 'To be assessed', are those that have not yet been assessed and assigned a rating or are undergoing a period
of review. These include sources previously rated by MCS for which the rating has lapsed, due to changes in the market or MCS priorities and
resources. Given that these sources are not fully assessed, the profile should not be used to infer the current sustainability of the
fishery or farmed species.

If you are interested in the sustainability of this seafood source, please let us know by emailing
ratings@mcsuk.org

Rating 1

Rating 1 (light green) is associated with the most
sustainably produced seafood.

This system has been developed by the Marine Conservation
Society to help consumers choose the most environmentally
sustainable fish.

Rating 3

Rating 3 (yellow) based on available information; these
species should probably not be considered sustainable at
this time. Areas requiring improvement in the current
production may be significant. Eat only occasionally and
check www.goodfishguide.org for specific details.

This system has been developed by the Marine Conservation
Society to help consumers choose the most environmentally
sustainable fish.

Rating 4

Rating 4 (orange) should not be considered sustainable, and
the fish is likely to have significant environmental issues
associated with its production. While it may be from a
deteriorating fishery, it may be one which has improved from
a 5 rating, and positive steps are being taken. However, MCS
would not usually recommend choosing this fish.

This system has been developed by the Marine Conservation
Society to help consumers choose the most environmentally
sustainable fish.

Red Improver

'Red improver' ratings are assigned to seafood sources which have been assessed and rated 5 (red) due to significant environmental concerns
with one or more aspects of their management, capture or production, yet credible efforts to improve these issues have been agreed through a
Fisheries or Aquaculture Improvement Project – a FIP or an AIP - and work is underway. Such projects are normally publicly listed at
www.fisheryprogress.org. MCS wants to encourage environmental improvements in fisheries and fish farms, and so does not recommend avoiding
these sources, as we normally do for seafood rated 5 (red rated).

'Best choice' fish are rated 1 and 2, Fish to Avoid are rated 5.

This system has been developed by the Marine Conservation Society to help businesses and consumers choose the most environmentally
sustainable fish.

Rating 5

Rating 5 (red) is associated with fish to be avoided on the
basis that all or most of the criteria for sustainablilty
have not been met.